Just like our un-winter, the upcoming GOP Presidential primary is being called the un-primary. With only two candidates, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul, having managed to collect the daunting number of signatures needed to get on the ballot, Republican voters don’t have much of a choice. Or do they?

Mitt Romney has failed to capture the heart of the Republican Party. Even his supporters don’t seem enthusiastic. There is none of the passion I have seen in years past for other Republican nominees. As for the conservative base - the folks who figure the strongest in picking the nominee - there is a wide range of reactions. Some loathe Romney. In fact, some, I suspect, if asked, are more likely to give Barack Obama a kind word than they are the former Massachusetts Governor. Some, however,

Editor’s Note: This “fantasy convention” article may prove to be reality. Keep reading!

Just a month and a half ago it looked like Mitt Romney was the presumed Republican nominee for President. He had won the Iowa caucuses, or at the time we had thought he had, and later went on to win New Hampshire. And then, oops, sorry, not so fast, Newt Gingrich won South Carolina. All at once Romney wasn’t the presumed nominee.

But, oh wait, then Romney won Florida, and once again, the aura of likely nominee returned. Nevada kept that image

George Allen is an icon in the Virginia Republican Party. He was that scrappy legislator who made the Democratic Majority in the House of Delegates so uncomfortable, and then, after a brief stay in the Congress (brief because his old Democratic colleagues redistricted him out of his seat), he was that come from behind long shot who managed to defeat the anointed successor to the three term Democratic dynasty in Richmond, Mary Sue Terry. And then, he was the Governor, who did something remarkable. He managed to carry out several of his most high

IThe amount of time, money and energy that will be spent in trying to find out what you and I will do on Election Day 2012 is staggering. Whether it’s the campaigns, or a host of professional pollsters, they all want to know what issue, perception, worry, or loyalty is going to sway our decision to vote one way or the other. There are even polls and focus groups that assess the reaction we have to the way the candidates talk, their mannerisms, and how “likable” they are. It’s a multi-million dollar industry and it’s the driving force behind the campaigns, their strategy and their messaging.

However, it can be argued that none of this really matters. That’s because overwhelmingly, in

Waiting your turn is important. We teach that lesson to our children, and most of us practice it every day. We wait in line at the supermarket, sit patiently in our cars at the McDonald’s drive through, and read whatever magazine is available in the doctor’s waiting room as we wait for our appointment. However, when it comes to picking a nominee for governor, particularly when one party holds both of the down ticket jobs; Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General, this age old courtesy is often tested to its limits.

Both parties, as a rule, particularly when they already have the reins of power, try to avoid heated fights for the nomination. They like to see a smooth handoff from the Governor to the

In 1956 America was in uproar. The Soviet Union, showing off its scientific and technical prowess, had just launched Sputnik and every 90 minutes this basketball sized satellite crossed over the United States. It was frightening, and the American people asked why we weren’t in space, and why weren’t we moving forward at least as fast in science and technology as our Cold War competitors the Russians. The answer, after a little soul searching, was that we weren’t training and graduating enough scientists, engineers and mathematicians. The Soviet Union was and we weren’t. It was that simple. The Congress, with a speed that’s hard to imagine today, responded a few months later with the National Defense Education Act. Its soul purpose was to improve the teaching of engineering and mathematics at all levels – from elementary schools to the nation’s best universities. It was one of the most far sighted pieces of legislation in our nation’s history. But, alas that was 55 years ago. And today, in what has

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